Immovable Property Tax Changes

Immovable Property Tax Changes

The Tax Department will start sending Immovable Property Tax demands that will include significant discounts agreed by parliament earlier this year.

TAXPAYERS will receive in the next few days their bills for Immovable Property Tax (IPT) which will come with significant reductions, tax department senior official Klelia Papadopoulou said on Wednesday.

Speaking to state broadcaster CyBC, Papadopoulou said that if someone’s property has not changed since January 1, 2015 he or she will pay the same tax as last year. The bills are to be mailed from Thursday.

The good news however is that this year there are significant discounts as high as 75 per cent.

For those who will settle their IPT ahead of the early-bird deadline, which is October 31, they will get a 75 per cent discount on their due amount, thus paying only 25 per cent of the total.

“If he or she pays in November and December, before the end of the year that is, they will pay only 27.5 per cent of the amount,” Papadopoulou said.

Those who will pay after January 2017, will also get a significant discount as they will pay only 30.25 per cent of the amount, she said.

As regards those who have already paid the IPT for 2016 due to property transfers, Papadopoulou said that they will receive money back.

This is the last year the IPT is being enforced after MPs up-voted in July DISY leader Averof Neophytou’s proposal for slashing the tax by 75 per cent this year, and scrapping it altogether in 2017. The tax was part of the island’s bailout agreement with its international lenders. As of next year, property owners will only pay the municipal property tax.